Friday, May 27, 2016

As Greek authorities continue to evict refugees from Idomeni camp, in northern Greece, international medical organisation Médecins Sans Frontieres/Doctors Without Borders (MSF) has denounced the forced movement of thousands of refugees, the lack of information provided about their destinations and the restrictions imposed on humanitarian aid during the process. MSF calls on the Greek authorities to guarantee that adequate and continuous assistance will be provided while people are moved from Idomeni and in the new locations to which they are taken.

“People are not being informed of where they are going and this is far from acceptable,” says Michele Telaro, MSF’s project coordinator in Idomeni. “They need to be able to make informed decisions, and they must be provided with accurate information in order to do so. They have already fled conflict and violence and spent more than two months living in unacceptable conditions in Idomeni. The alternative to the inhumane should not be the unknown and the uncertain.”

MSF’s medical teams say they have seen many anxious patients who been told to leave Idomeni without being given any clear information on their destination: “Our nurse reported that the majority of people she saw in the clinic burst into tears when she spoke to them,” says Telaro. “They asked her where they would be going and whether there would be doctors there. She didn’t know how to reply, because we don’t know if adequate continuity of care will be assured.”

MSF medics have seen a number of patients with chronic diseases such as diabetes and epilepsy, which require continuous treatment. Uncertain about what medical facilities will be available when they move, these patients are worried about the risk of interruption to their care.

MSF teams are faced with a difficult situation when referring patients to hospital, as those who leave Idomeni camp do not have permission to return, and a referral could leave them separated from their families.

When the evictions started on 24 May, MSF and other non-governmental organisations were allowed only restricted access to Idomeni camp, with a reduced number of staff allowed to enter, while volunteers were completely expelled from the camp. These restrictions jeopardised the running of essential services such as food distributions and sanitation.

“Let’s be clear: this cannot be considered a voluntary relocation, as these people had no choice and did not have adequate information, while assistance in the camp was drastically cut,” says Loïc Jaeger, MSF’s head of mission in Greece. “It is unacceptable to force this move on the resigned and desperate people of Idomeni. We would like to be able to tell them that they can rejoin their families in Europe, that they will have access to adequate protection, but we can’t. We can’t even reassure them about the conditions they will find in the new camps.”

“Moving refugees from informal camps to formal camps is not the solution,” says Jaeger. “In Europe, in 2016, refugees should not be living in tents. They should have their claims for asylum heard and be provided with homes so that they can restart their lives in safety.”

Since starting to work in Idomeni in April 2015, some 260 MSF staff have worked in the camp, providing more than 38,000 medical consultations, distributing essential relief items, providing shelters and organising water and sanitation.

The Baiga tribespeople have been repeatedly harassed and told that they will have to move from their villages to a muddy clearing outside the reserve, even though there is no evidence their presence in the reserve is harming tigers. Such evidence is required if the tribe’s eviction is to be lawful, but in fact the number of tigers in the reserve reportedly rose from 12 to 28 between 2011 and 2015.

One Baiga man from Rajak village said: “We don’t want to go, we can’t go. What should we do?”

A local witness told Survival: “There is nothing around the new site for them, nothing will grow in the land, there is no water and they won’t be able to take anything from the forest. That’s why they are so adamant that they won’t leave, because if they go they will just die out.”

Some have been told that if they don’t leave their ancestral land, guards will release bears and snakes into their villages. Others have been arrested and harassed – in 2009 one man was jailed for three months for eating a squirrel he had found dead on the forest floor.

Those who have already been evicted from Achanakmar now live in inadequate government camps and face lives of poverty on the fringes of mainstream Indian society.

One Baiga person from Chirahatta village, which is facing eviction, said: “They’ve been placing restrictions on us for two or three years. They don’t let us live. They take us to jail and threaten us. They are harsh and strict. They put us in jail for nothing. If we say anything they threaten to put us in jail. They are making it difficult for us to live.”

Across India, tribespeople are being illegally evicted from tiger reserves, despite there being no evidence that their presence harms tigers. They face arrest and, in some places, beatings, torture and even summary execution for trying to re-enter their ancestral land, while large-scale tiger-spotting tourism is encouraged.

Last year, Survival learned that tiger numbers had increased at well above the Indian national average in BRT, the one reserve in India where tribes have been formally allowed to stay on their land, demonstrating that tribal villages within wildlife reserves do not pose a substantial threat to tigers or their habitat.

Survival has written to WWF, the world’s largest conservation organization, which equips and trains the forest guards in the region.

Evidence proves that tribal peoples are better at looking after their environment than anyone else. Despite this, they are being illegally evicted from their ancestral homelands in the name of conservation. The big conservation organizations are guilty of supporting this. They never speak out against evictions.

Survival’s director Stephen Corry said: “It’s illegal and immoral to target tribes, who have coexisted with the tiger for centuries, when industrialization and mass-scale colonial-era hunting are the real reason the tiger became endangered. It’s also ineffective, because targeting tribespeople diverts action away from tackling the true poachers – criminal gangs. Big conservation organisations should be partnering with tribal peoples, not propping up the Forest Departments that are guilty of brutalizing them. Targeting tribal people harms conservation.”

Rougier is described as an “integrated forest & trade company” and a large “forest operator” in a WWF press release and report. It is felling trees in an estimated 600,000 hectare area, which is more than is permitted under Cameroonian law.

Rougier has also been denounced by Friends of the Earth for its activities in Cameroon, which have included illegal price-fixing, illegal logging outside a concession, felling more trees than authorized, and illegally exporting rare timber.

WWF has stated that it would never partner with a company operating on indigenous land without the consent of the indigenous people. In entering this partnership with Rougier, it has violated its own policies on indigenous peoples.

Survival recently wrote to the CEO of Rougier asking whether he believed his company had acquired the Baka’s consent for the logging. In response Rougier simply said that: “Baka communities are aware of our existence and operation.”

In February, Survival filed an OECD complaint against WWF for funding abusive anti-poaching squads in Cameroon, who have used violence and intimidation to deny tribespeople access to their land.

According to a recent report produced by the EU, not a single logging company is operating legally in Cameroon. Experts say that no logging activities are being carried out at sustainable levels.

Evidence shows that tribal peoples are the best conservationists and guardians of the natural world. Despite this, WWF has preferred to partner with international corporations that destroy the environment’s best allies – tribal peoples.

Survival’s Director Stephen Corry said: “If further proof were needed that WWF is more interested in securing corporate cash than really looking out for the environment, here it is. The absurd language it has used to try and hide this partnership with a logging firm – calling Rougier a “leading producer of certified African tropical timber” – should fool no-one, and reveals a lot about the nature of this partnership. It’s a con. And it’s harming conservation. Survival is fighting these abuses, for tribes, for nature, for all humanity. Conservation organizations should be partnering with tribal peoples to protect the environment, not the companies destroying it to make a quick buck.”

Note: "Pygmy” is an umbrella term commonly used to refer to the hunter-gatherer peoples of the Congo Basin and elsewhere in Central Africa. The word is considered pejorative and avoided by some tribespeople, but used by others as a convenient and easily recognized way of describing themselves.

Wednesday, May 25, 2016

The majority of what is being written about business continuity and organizational disaster response and recovery issues today tends to be primarily focused on technology. While this trend reflects our society’s reliance on technology to keep organizations functioning, it also raises questions about our confidence in how comprehensively we are addressing many of the human factors which impact an organization’s ability to function during and following a critical event.

This survey examines organizational attitudes and practices related to supporting members of the workforce as they participate in response and recovery activities. It challenges respondents to compare and contrast commonly held assumptions about planning with their organization’s actual plans. The results from this survey will eventually be used in a book about addressing human needs and their impact on response and recovery efforts. We will provide the associations whose members and/or readers respond to the survey with aggregated data from those responses shortly after the close of the survey. Please be assured that the strictest levels of security and privacy are applied to this survey. The only identifying marker is the association with which the respondent is affiliated and nothing else can or will be tracked.

The professional associations that were invited to participate in this study were chosen for their high standards and the broad range of expertise within their membership. Areas of specialization and practitioners from all over the world combine to offer a very balanced perspective on the subject of the research.

We encourage individual respondents to utilize the survey within their respective organization’s workforce in order to provide a practical springboard for internal discussions of the issues that the survey addresses. If it is used that way, the authors will receive a fully anonymous report of the organization’s aggregated responses, but not include that data with individually generated results nor include it with the association’s data. Mr. Ian Crowley at SoGoSurvey.com will help set up an account that allows the organization’s chosen representative to manage the organization’s data securely. We look forward to your participation.

About the authors: Dr. Barton Goldsmith is a psychotherapist and a widely published author. Lawrence Noel has reviewed plans, written plans, and trained non-professionals to function as responders since 1989. If you have any questions about the survey, please contact gnsurveyofdrr(at)gmail.com

Tuesday, May 24, 2016

The Cassava Weed Management Project which is managed by the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA) is assisting African researchers to gain new knowledge on advances in weed science by drawing the expertise of United States researchers and their Nigerian counterparts thereby putting alive the legacies of Charles Darwin and making him proud.

Launched in 2014, the IITA-Cassava Weed Management Project, as part of its sustainability program, is building bridges across researchers from developed and developing countries with a view to narrowing the knowledge gap, by raising the capacity of weed scientists through training and knowledge sharing.

The aim is to help Africa maximize the benefit of genetic gain which has been hitherto stymied over the years because of poor crop management among which poor weed control is a major factor.

This situation is exacerbated by low capacity and a lack of the critical human resource to tackle weed problems, according to Prof Friday Ekeleme, Principal Investigator for IITA Cassava Weed Management Project, who also doubles as the President of the Nigeria Weed Science Society of Nigeria, during the recently organized 3-day workshop on “Herbicide Action on Weeds and Crops.”

The training, which provided the opportunity for the participants to access latest information in weed science, covered wide range of areas that explained the nature of herbicide, how it works, how it should be used and the effect on weeds and crops.

Prof Stephen Weller, from the Purdue University, United States of America (USA) while facilitating the session on “Herbicide Site of Action”, stressed the effect of the environment on the use of herbicides while adding that it was good to thoroughly read labels and understand the content of herbicides before use.

On “Herbicide Absorption,” Prof Michael Owen, from the Iowa State University, took time to analyse the area of herbicides’ absorption from the soil and the factors affecting soil uptake such as relative humidity, temperature, and light. He spoke on, “Adjuvants/Safeners and Herbicide Metabolism in Plants”, and explained how safeners work. He also listed the various classification and categories of adjuvants. Other areas he proffered insights included herbicides resistance in weed management and best possible options African researchers could take to avoid the occurrence of weed resistance.

Prof Segun Lagoke, of the Federal University of Agriculture Abeokuta, Nigeria, emphasized the need for weed identification as an important step to any weed management control.

During his opening remarks, Project Leader of the IITA Cassava Weed Management Project, Dr Alfred Dixon said the training was particularly designed to offer weed scientists access to globally current information in the field of weed management.

He encouraged participants to apply lessons learnt to their research work in universities, research institutes, the Agricultural Development Programs (ADPs) and also to disseminate the information to farmers on the field. “This will ensure sustainability and applicability of the knowledge acquired,” he said.

At the end of the 3 days, participants expressed good feedback on the quality of delivery by the resource persons as well as the quality of training module contents used during the workshop.

Sunday, May 22, 2016

In the last years, the expectation that development projects focus more on their impacts (rather than just the smooth implementation of the project measures) has risen dramatically. More than ever organisations in this field need to be able to demonstrate their projects’ contributions to development goals as well as their capacity to work in an impact-oriented manner. Project staff needs to be able to maximise the wanted impacts while at the same time having an eye on unwanted and potential negative impacts.

In order to do so, impact oriented project planning and monitoring needs to be done in a systematic way right from the beginning and during all phases of a project. Only then the activities of the project can be directed or redirected into the needed directions (constantly monitoring “Are we doing the right thing and are we doing it the right way?”). Only then, the organisation can learn from past success or failure for the future activities.

Adapting to these challenges is not an easy way, which can be seen in project practice as in the theoretical discourse on the topic. Organisations and project staff struggle with high expectations to prove "impact" and with a multitude of definitions, concepts and tools on the market. They face with questions such as:

What makes up the impact chain of our project showing the underlying theory of change?

What are good qualitative and / or quantitative indicators for the different goal levels (output / use of output / outcome / impact)?

What are appropriate methods and tools to verify these indicators; and how does an impact oriented monitoring system look like for our project?

How can we at the same time keep an eye on unwanted or negative impacts of our project?

Target group

Participants from the organisations dealing with projects and programmes of development cooperation in all fields, being responsible or involved in activities of project cycle management are expected to attend. Knowledge of formalized planning procedures like log frame-planning and the use of project cycle management are appreciated. As the workshop language will be English, it is necessary that participants are fluent in the same.

Registration and organisational details

The cost per person for the workshop is 27.500 Rs. / 390 Euro incl. food / accommodation during the 'workshop days', transport from station /airport Coimbatore to KKID & Return, training materials and course fee. The costs have to be settled directly with KKID, Coimbatore, India. Taxes as applicable will be extra and shall be borne by the participant.

Further details can be found on our Homepage. The workshop language will be English. Registration Deadline will be August 10, 2016.

Looking forward to welcome you as participants at KKID in October 2016!

Saturday, May 21, 2016

A team of volunteers sent by San Diego-based International Relief Teams (IRT) will head just south of Ensenada, Baja California on Sunday, May 22 to provide eyeglasses to residents of Maneadero, one of the poorest communities in the area. In partnership with the Ensenada Rotary Club, five volunteers on the team will screen about 125 people throughout the day and provide distance and reading glasses as needed.

Due to poverty and a lack of access to eye care, many of our neighbors in Ensenada, suffer unnecessarily from bad vision, making it impossible for them to read, to learn, and to provide for their families.

“These eyeglasses are small miracles for the poor,” says Rose Uranga, IRT Director of Operations & Program Development. “They enable school children to learn, and give adults the ability to work and provide for their families.”

Rose Uranga will lead the team on Sunday; she has previously led volunteer teams to more than 10 countries over the past 25 years. The crew includes Kelly and Erin Hardiman, Bonita; Marjorie Sanchez, Chula Vista; Kimbie Palacio, San Diego; Marty Fowler, Jamul.

IRT is committed to helping vulnerable and marginalized families in our neighboring region of Baja California have a chance at a successful future by providing eye glasses and life changing support.

San Diego-based International Relief Teams works to alleviate the suffering caused by poverty and disaster around the globe, from the forgotten corners of the world to right here at home, by sending volunteer teams and medical supplies to make immediate change for the world’s most vulnerable people. For more information visit: http://www.irteams.org. Also see us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter.

Ahead of the World Humanitarian Summit (WHS) taking place in Istanbul on Monday, May 23 and Tuesday, May 24, international NGO, Concern Worldwide, is calling on world leaders to enforce robust international mechanisms to prevent conflict and the escalation of global humanitarian crises.

Speaking at the launch of Concern’s submission to the WHS, Seize the Opportunity, CEO Dominic MacSorley said:

“The human impact of conflict is alarming. More than 172 million people worldwide are affected by conflict[i] and, each year, up to 180,000 people are violently killed as a result of more than 40 armed conflicts ongoing today. Syria, and ongoing violence in Afghanistan, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Somalia and Yemen, have contributed to the highest yearly death toll in the post-Cold War period. Globally, 50 per cent of the world’s poor now live in conflict-affected and fragile states, and that figure is set to rise to more than 80 per cent by 2025.

The international structures aimed at preventing conflict are antiquated and over-politicized: a prime example is the UN Security Council. The failure to prevent the rising level of conflict is evidence of the need for radical and dramatic change.”

In its submission, Concern calls on world leaders to make a number of interventions including:• The establishment of a more robust rapid deployment diplomatic mechanism based on the Elders model, to seek resolutions at the onset of emerging conflicts• The expansion of UN Resolution 2286, intended to prevent attacks on medical staff and facilities, to include all humanitarian workers, and to hold to account those who violate this resolution• Removal of the power of veto from the permanent members of the United Nations Security Council in relation to humanitarian crises• Reinvigoration of negotiations for a global, intergovernmental mechanism for compliance and violation monitoring of international humanitarian law

The INGO’s central message to national leaders at the Summit is that humanitarian aid cannot be used as a substitute for failed diplomacy or a lack of political will to find solutions to protracted conflicts. Concern’s submission points to the experience of Northern Ireland and the Balkans, where external political intervention was a major catalyst for peace, and insists that a renewed and radical approach to inclusive diplomacy must be a central outcome of the World Humanitarian Summit.

Concern highlights the desperate situation of internally displaced people and refugees and calls for a new deal: one which supports refugees’ integration into host countries.

On the issue of the huge gap in humanitarian funding, with a shortfall of $9.6 billion in 2015 and only half of humanitarian needs being met, Concern is calling on UN member states to honour their commitment to spending 0.7 per cent of GDP on overseas development aid, and specifies that humanitarian funding within ODA should be doubled to 20 per cent. Concern also urges OECD member states to identify new sources of funding to support the integration of refugees, rather than using ODA budget.

125 million people are dependent on an underfunded humanitarian lifeline for their survival. Concern’s submission cites the unacceptable consequences of underfunding, including cutbacks in food rations, children being deprived of education, girls being forced into early marriage and people being forced into destructive coping strategies.

Dominic MacSorley, who will be addressing a plenary session of the World Humanitarian Summit on Monday (May 23), added: “We must seize this historic opportunity for transformative change to address the deficit of humanity that has led to levels of suffering, cruelty and hardship that we thought we had left behind last century.”

You can read Seize the Opportunity, Concern Worldwide’s full submission to the World Humanitarian Summit here.

Monday, May 16, 2016

The Thomson Reuters Foundation, the charity arm of the world’s largest news and information provider, today launched Place (Property, Land, Access, Connections, Empowerment), an innovative platform to boost coverage of land and property rights, one of the most under-reported issues worldwide. The new platform has been developed with support from Omidyar Network, the philanthropic investment firm founded by Pierre and Pam Omidyar.

Insecurity of land tenure and property rights is a major cause of global poverty and inequality and is strongly linked to the realisation of many development goals, including food security, economic empowerment of women, and climate change mitigation. Place aims to generate and curate trusted news and information on these issues, highlighting some of the complex dynamics related to property rights with the aim of making the subject accessible to a broader audience.

Place creates the world’s first global news team dedicated to coverage of land and property rights, and the launch of a new digital platform, featuring original articles, information, analysis and opinion pieces. The Thomson Reuters Foundation team will do reporting and will select and aggregate content, ensuring the site both informs and triggers debate.

“The lack of ownership or tenure is one of the world’s most silent crises and one with dramatic ramifications. The denial of such basic rights leads to exploitation and financial instability; it can destroy livelihoods, create inequality and even foment conflict. It particularly affects women who are not allowed to own or even inherit land in many countries,” says Monique Villa, Chief Executive Officer of the Thomson Reuters Foundation. “Through the generous support of Omidyar Network, our news will play a significant role in starting a global conversation on the subject.”

“The lack of property rights is not just a concern for developing countries,” says Peter Rabley, Director of the Property Rights initiative of Omidyar Network. “It poses a threat to global security by putting food supplies at risk, fuelling violence in ever-growing slums in major cities, reducing opportunity and economic empowerment, and increasing pressure on the environment. The issues linked to property rights are a concern for everyone, and this innovative project with the Thomson Reuters Foundation aims to address these issues by bringing them into the public domain and sparking a global discussion.”

Thomson Reuters Foundation journalists and videographers in Africa, India, Brazil and Britain will work with over 100 freelancers to produce daily news addressing issues such as the lack of land rights and its consequences, corruption, land appropriation, food security and human rights abuses. The team will also produce interviews with frontline thought leaders and compelling micro-documentaries to engage viewers through visually striking investigative stories.

The journalists are part of the larger editorial team at the Thomson Reuters Foundation, will report to Belinda Goldsmith, editor-in-chief, and will benefit from editorial guidance, mentorship, facilities and a global distribution network reaching an estimated audience of one billion readers a day.

Content generated by the team will be featured on news.trust.org, the Thomson Reuters Foundation’s website, and on place.trust.org, the new platform dedicated to land and property rights.

About the Thomson Reuters Foundation The Thomson Reuters Foundation acts to promote socio-economic progress and the rule of law worldwide. The organisation runs initiatives that inform, connect and ultimately empower people around the world: access to free legal assistance, media development and training, editorial coverage of the world’s under-reported stories, and the Trust Women conference.

Thursday, May 12, 2016

The World Health Organization announces today (Thursday 12th May) that they are recommending countries move toward shorter treatment regimens for certain people with drug-resistant tuberculosis (DR-TB).

David Lister, MSF TB Doctor working in Uzbekistan and Coordinator of the 9-Month Short Course Regimen study says:

"The prospect of two years of TB treatment drives parents to hide their children from treatment, teenagers to abandon their ambitions and adults to decide between providing for their family or getting healthy. The fear of relentless suffering due to side-effects manages to outweigh any hopes of cure and returning to a normal life. But when I say, 'it’s only nine months' they say, 'I can do that’.”

“WHO’s recommendations are a promising step forward and countries should waste no time in putting these to practice where appropriate. MSF has seen positive outcomes using a nine-month regimen for some people with DR-TB in countries such as Swaziland and Uzbekistan.

“Treatment for DR-TB can run for up to two years and results in significant side effects. The main benefit of this shorter 9 month regimen is that it lessens the amount of time patients’ lives are seriously disrupted by treatment and is often more effective.

“However, these shorter regimens still use some of the old, toxic drugs, particularly the daily painful injections people must endure. Today’s announcement must not lead us to lose sight of the desperate need for completely new treatment regimens with fewer side effects.”

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Boosting agripreneurship development in Karnataka

Hyderabad, India (06 May 2016) —Giving new dimensions to agripreneurship development and to enhance agricultural growth through innovation and partnerships, a Memorandum of Agreement (MoA) has been signed between the University of Agricultural Sciences, Raichur (UAS-R) and the International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT). This will provide support to set up an agribusiness incubator (ABI) at the University’s Raichur campus, in Karnataka, India.

ICRISAT will help to identify and promote agribusiness start-ups, as well as facilitate agro-technology transfer in the North Karnataka region, which is expected to enhance the impact of outreach activities for the University.

Entrepreneurs will get technical and business development support in seed production, farm machinery and food processing domains. This will be through technical support to develop business models, capacity building and training for incubator personnel, facilitate strategies and systems for technology commercialization and consulting services for promotion of agribusiness in the region.

“This partnership with ICRISAT opens a new chapter for the University in promoting technology and agri-based entrepreneurship in the region,” said Dr PM Salimath, Vice Chancellor of UAS-R.

“ICRISAT and its partners have been successful in facilitating the establishment of agribusiness incubators in India and Africa aimed at engaging youth, women and farmers to initiate small and micro-level agribusiness ventures. We hope to achieve similar results through this partnership with UAS-R,” said Dr Peter Carberry, Deputy Director General (Research), ICRISAT.

The handholding and mentoring support for UAS-R will be provided through the co-business incubation initiative of the Agri-Business Incubation Program — part of the ICRISAT Agribusiness & Innovation Platform (AIP) that focuses on promoting agribusiness ventures and public-private partnership initiatives in the agricultural sector.

ICRISAT AIP provides prototype innovations, knowledge and expertise, training and co-location with researchers for close interaction; while the entrepreneurs fine-tune the prototypes and take them to market, as well as bearing the risks and reaping the rewards involved.

The University of Agricultural Sciences, Raichur (UAS-R) was established to help the farming community of the North Eastern dry zone of Karnataka state, with scientific innovations and short and long term solutions to the agricultural problems faced by farmers, through research for growth and new technologies for a sustainable agriculture sector. We also help to uplift the socio-economic status of the farming community through strong Extension linkages. Thus “Greening the life of farming community through Education, Research and Extension”, is our motto.

About ICRISAT

The International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid-Tropics (ICRISAT) is a non-profit, non-political organization that conducts agricultural research for development in Asia and sub-Saharan Africa with a wide array of partners throughout the world. Covering 6.5 million square kilometers of land in 55 countries, the semi-arid tropics have over 2 billion people, and 644 million of these are the poorest of the poor. ICRISAT innovations help the dryland poor move from poverty to prosperity by harnessing markets while managing risks – a strategy called Inclusive Market- Oriented development (lMOD). ICRISAT is headquartered in Patancheru, Hyderabad, Telangana, India, with two regional hubs and six country offices in sub-Saharan Africa. It is a member of the CGIAR Consortium.

CGIAR is a global agriculture research partnership for a food secure future. Its science is carried out by 15 research Centers who are members of the CGIAR Consortium in collaboration with hundreds of partner organizations. www.cgiar.org

Wednesday, May 04, 2016

The death toll from Al Quds, where airstrikes first hit buildings neighbouring the hospital, then the hospital itself as the wounded were being transferred there, has now climbed to 55, as more bodies were pulled out from the rubble over the last days.

Among the dead are six staff from the hospital – including one of the last paediatricians in Aleppo, one dentist, two nurses, a technician and a guard.

It will be at least two weeks before the hospital will be able to reopen – efforts are focused on repairing and rehabilitating what can be salvaged.

The Emergency Room (ER) and laboratory have been completely destroyed, including the destruction of essential equipment and drugs. The paediatric unit has been almost entirely destroyed, including the loss of seven incubators.

The Intensive Care Unit (ICU) is less damaged but still will require a huge effort to get back up. MSF is committed to helping the hospital with whatever support it may need in this time and into the future.

People in Aleppo report being terrified, schools are closed and there is no-one in the street. They are hiding in basements. Most people are trapped, dependent on humanitarian aid for survival after years of assault on their city, they have no resources to be able to leave. They are reported to be being forced to “stay and die”.

Airstrikes are not only hitting hospitals but have struck warehouses in which medical donations and equipment are stored before being delivered to healthcare facilities. This includes the Pre Hospital System managed by the Aleppo Directorate of Health, to which MSF is one of the donors. Civilians have been killed in these attacks and essential items such as medical donations, and equipment such as ambulances have been destroyed.

MuskildaZancada, MSF’s head of mission for Syria says: “Aleppo is under fire – with people reportedly having no choice but to ‘stay and die’. “We are hearing as airstrikes continue to target hospitals and civilian areas there is nobody left on the streets.People devastated by years of war are trapped in this nightmare, many are entirely dependent on humanitarian aid, and have no resources to leave."

“As the UN discusses a critical resolution and as the peace talks hang in the balance, we ask what is being done to stop this carnage, where is the action to save what is left of Aleppo, and ensure that civilians are protected from the fire?”

MSF has been donating medical supplies to Al Quds hospital since 2012. The 34-bed hospital offered services including an emergency room, obstetric care, an outpatients department, an inpatients department, an intensive care unit and an operating theatre. Eight doctors and 28 nurses worked full time in the hospital, which was the main referral centre for paediatrics in Aleppo.

According to hospital staff, the hospital was destroyed by at least one airstrike which directly hit the building, reducing it to rubble. Other airstrikes in the neighbourhood also hit areas close to the hospital.

MSF runs six medical facilities across northern Syria and supports more than 150 health centres and hospitals across the country, many of them in besieged areas. Several hospitals across north and south Syria have been bombed since the start of 2016, including seven supported by MSF - in which at least 42 people have been killed, including at least 16 medical staff.